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Celebration on hold: Griffins unable to close out Syracuse in Game 4 of Calder Cup Finals

The Grand Rapids Griffins head coach, Jeff Blashill, refers to some notes during the third period of game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Friday, June 14. The Grand Rapids Griffins lost to Syracuse Crunch 3-2.
(Lauren Petracca | MLive.com)

Grand Rapids and Syracuse players pile up inside the Grand Rapids' net in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Friday, June 14, 2013.Cory Morse | Mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS – No one said it was going to be easy.

The Grand Rapids Griffins missed a chance to wrap up their first American Hockey League title Friday night in a 3-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals before a sold-out crowd at Van Andel Arena.

An apparent game-tying goal with 17.2 seconds left in regulation was waved off after an official review.

The Griffins still lead the best-of-seven series 3-1, and host Game 5 at 7 p.m. Saturday

It was the first loss for Grand Rapids in its last five postseason games and the squad continues searching for its first championship in the franchise’s 17-year history.
The Griffins advanced to the IHL Finals in 2000 before losing to Chicago in six games.

Grand Rapids was looking to become the 17th team in AHL history to sweep the finals and the second in a row. The Norfolk Admirals, which had 10 current Syracuse players, defeated Toronto 4-0 last season.

The Griffins scored less than four minutes into the game on a goal by Joakim Andersson, who picked up a loose puck at center ice off a Syracuse turnover and snapped it past Crunch goalie Cedrick Desjardins.

Grand Rapids regained the lead at the 11:04 mark. Jeff Hoggan‘s shot from the top deflected off a Syracuse defensemen out in front and Jan Mursak swooped in and punched it in to put the Griffins up 2-1.

But Grand Rapids squandered that lead as Syracuse notched a pair of goals nearly three minutes apart in the second period.

A slap shot by Syracuse’s Ondrej Palat with six minutes remaining in the second period evened it at 2-2. Richard Panik scored the go-ahead goal at 16:52 off a rebound that proved to be the game winner after neither team scored in the final period.

The Griffins outshot the Crunch 28-24. Mrazek had 21 saves for Grand Rapids.